Public Asked To Respect Disabled Parking Bays

December 2, 2015

The City of Hamilton will tomorrow [Dec 3] recognize the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities by supporting the Government’s Disability Advisory Council [DAC] in a public proclamation.

The public is invited to assemble at the Flag Pole on Front Street at 11am Thursday to join Government dignitaries, staff from Ageing and Disability Services and various community organizations that promote the rights of persons with disabilities. They will walk to City Hall for short speeches to commemorate the day.

The City encourages support for people living with disabilities and has increased the visibility of Handicapped Parking signs throughout the city. Fifteen signs will rotate amongst the existing 37 Disabled Parking bays to remind motorists not to abuse the special bays by parking illegally, even for ‘5 minutes’. The signs will be visible through the city during the holiday season, a time when Disabled Parking is most often abused.

City of Hamilton COO, Ed Benevides said, “The City of Hamilton recognizes the continued abuse of the disabled bays throughout the City and indeed all of Bermuda and we continue to work with the Bermuda Police Service in an effort to ticket offending vehicles.

“I encourage the public to also be vigilant and aware of parking abuse in these bays – call the City or call the Police if you see a violation. It is unfortunate that we have people in our midst who think it is OK to deny these parking bays to those that need them, for selfish and convenience reasons.

“The City is proud to partner with the Disability Advisory Council and assist this awareness effort by placing signage at the various bays around the City. We ask the public to please refrain from parking in the disabled bays unless they display a permit. It is our hope that in the New Year City ordinances can be reinstituted to allow the enforcement of City parking by City officials.”

Mayor Charles Gosling said, “During the busy shopping season ahead, I implore the public to commit to not park in the disabled bays around the City. We live in a world of conveniences and I can assure the public that those bays are far more convenient to those that need them, than to those that don’t. We all need to be good community citizens and put the needs of others ahead of our own.”

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  1. Some Beach says:

    Anyone doing that is denying the disadvantaged to suffrage for blatent self-centered….abase to need…how does anyone do that?…basically…I feel ….they see their need superceeds the infirm or disabled….in that case ….ashamed …is what they should be..

  2. Triangle Drifter says:

    I am not disabled but seeing the abuse of handicapped parking really irritates me.

    In the US people respect handicapped parking. You just don’t see cars parked in them not displaying a handicapped tag. You do see an awful lot of people who have a tag getting out of cars & looking perfectly healthy. The system is abused.

    Here there are those who just don’t care. They somehow think that their convenience is more important than somebody who is less mobile. Having a tow truck on speed dial to remove the offending cars would get the message out very quickly. Impound the cars till the towing fee, storage fee & administration fee is paid. Don’t park in handicapped bays.

    • eyes wide open says:

      I agreed with everything you said except where you said people have tags but look perfectly healthy. How do you know what their disability is? They don’t have to “look” sick to have an ailment that limits their ability to walk longer distances. The process of applying for a tag is very stringent – doctors have to sign off etc. It’s not as easy as you make it seem.